A young adult from Prior’s Court has utilised a range of skills he learnt with us over the past nine months to make delicious bread buns for his family, to the delight of his parents.

Before returning home for a visit earlier this month, William had a successful taster session in our on-site commercial enterprise bakery, Bread & Beyond, making biscuits to take home.

William, who joined our Young Adult Provision last summer, has been learning vocational skills in Catering & Hospitality after he showed a keen interest in this area. The bakery offers an ideal setting outside of the classroom to learn and practice these skills and has so far provided work placements/experiences for dozens of young people.

William’s parents Rosemary and Jeff were able to build on these skills learnt by putting together a recipe at home for William to make bread buns, an activity he completed with aplomb.

William’s parents Rosemary and Jeff said: "We have been so impressed with how he has been able to link together a variety of skills to allow him to follow recipes in the Catering and Hospitality vocational learning area, in his on-site home Dove Cottage and in the bakery. Information has been put in a format that he could understand and follow.

“To then come home and pick up a new recipe that he could understand and prepare with minimal support was amazing. He demonstrated all those skills working together - he was interested, motivated, concentrated, used his functional literacy and numeracy and maintained safety right through to completion. The finished product was genuinely enjoyed by the entire family."

And now, from Monday, William will be starting a voluntary work placement in Bread & Beyond as a result of the successes elsewhere.

Sue Piper, Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “This is exactly what Prior’s Court aims to deliver – not just teaching our young people new skills, but also the ability to generalise these skills and use them in other environments. These allow for vital steps to be taken towards greater independence in a home environment and the potential to enter the world of work.

“And it also shows the partnership working between members of staff at Prior’s Court and parents which is so important.

“A massive well done to William and all of the Prior’s Court staff members who have supported him to make outstanding progress in his time with us so far.”